Cabinet structure



Feb. 19, 1963 R. J. EVANS CABINET STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 16, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet l 4% Tom EYS,

.5 R mm E y 7- W 0 n Feb. 19, 1963 R. J. EVANS CABINET STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 16, 1960 INVENTORQ Babe/2 J. Evans. w M I A RNEYS Feb. 19, 1963 R. J. EVANS 3,078,135

r CABINET g faucwuma Filed Sept. 16, 1930 C s Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR. Faberf J 5 4/26 BY v a M ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,078,135 CABINET STRUCTURE Robert J. Evans, Aurora, Ilh, assignor to Aurora Equipment (Iompany Aurora, llilL, a corporation of Illinois Filed Sept. 16, sass, fier. No. 56,586 11 Claims. (Cl; 312-312) The present invention relates generally to a cabinet and more particularly to a cabinet having sliding drawers in which parts such as radio and TV tubes can be readily stored.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a cabinet structure having sliding drawers in which parts may be stored, the supply of parts in the drawer being readily replenished by moving the drawer to an open position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cabinet structure having sliding drawers in which parts may be stored, and which cabinet can" be economically manufactured on a large production basis;

A further object of the present invention is to provide a simple track mechanism for a drawer..

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a cabinet having. slidably mounted inclined drawers so that goods stored in the drawer compartments may be maintained in readiness for use by utilizing the force of gravity, the goods being slidable from an upper rear drawer end to a lower forward drawer end as parts are removed from the forward end of the drawer.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an improved compartmentalized drawer which may be economically manufactured.

According to the general features of the present invention, a cabinet has been provided with aseries of lift type inclined drawers which are slidably mounted on the cabinet in vertically spaced relation. Tab means is carried on the frame and slot means is carried on the drawer with the tab means engageable in the slot means in order to maintain the drawer in a closed position, the drawer being movable rearwardly' on its tracks for disengaging the slot means from the tab means and with the drawer being manually liftable over the tab means and slidable forwardly of the tab means to move the inclined drawer to an open position.

Other features of the present invention relate to the provision of stop means on the frame engageable with the drawer as the'drawer is moved to an open position to maintain the inclined drawer in assembly with said frame so that it will not fall out of the cabinet.

Other objects and features of the present invention will more fully become apparent in view of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating a single embodiment, and in which- FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet, according to features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged exploded view of a" drawer support frame;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line III III as seen in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line IV-IV; as seen in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5' is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE 4' only showing the drawer in an open position;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a blank o'f'material for manufacturing a drawer;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view of one of the forward corners of a drawer; and

aararss" Patented Feb. 1%, 1963 FIGURE 8 is anenlarged fragmentary view of one of the rear corners of the drawer.

-As shown on the drawings:

The reference numeral 10' indicates generally a cabinet. Disposed at the four corners of the cabinet are a series of upright or vertical angles 11'. A series of vertically spaced inclined drawer support frames 12 are suitably attached such as by means of bolts and nuts to the angles 11. Mounted on each of the frames 12 is an inclined lift type slidable drawer 13. Carried within the drawer 13 are a series of drawer dividers I4 and parts, such as radio and TV tubes 15, are adapted to be supported on the drawer 13 between the drawer dividers 14. Since the drawer is vertically inclined, the parts or tubes 15 tend to gravitate from an upper rear end of the drawer to a lower front end of the drawer.

The frame 12 includes inclined side frame angles or members or portions 16 and transverse frame angles or members or portions 17 joined in welded assembly together, such as indicated at 18 in FIGURE 2. The front and rear transverse members 17 each have transverse attachment brackets 17a which are secured by means of nut and bolt assemblies 17b to the angles 11 and it is in this way the drawer frame 12 is secured in assembly with the cabinet 10.

The side frame members 16 have inclined drawer angles or track members 19 which are secured in assembly with the side frame member by means of nut and bolt assemblies 20. Each of the track members 19 has a hooked upper end 19a disposed only at the forward ends of the track members 19. The hooked ends 19a are cooperable with upper surfaces 16a of the side frame members 16 and together define shelf traclrsZl. It will be noted the hooked ends 1% are disposed in confronting relation with respect to one another.

The lift-type drawer 13 preferably is manufactured from a single piece of material such as steel and has a bottom 13a as well as turned up drawer side walls 23 and 24 and transverse or front and rear side walls 25 and 26. The rear wall 26 has integral flanges 27 which are welded at 28: to the side walls 23 and 24 for securing the drawer walls 23, 24 and 26 in an upright position. The drawer side walls 23 and 24 have upper drawer side wall edges 23a and 24a which comprise runners for engagement within the tracks 21. The drawer bottom 13a is in slidable engagement with the upper side wall surfaces 16a of the side wall frame members 16. It is in this way. the drawers are confined within the tracks 21 during the course of the front-to-rear sliding. movement of the drawer relative to the cabinet.

The front wall 25 has an angular drawer divider support 29 secured at its upper end to an angular front wall portion 25a. The angular drawer divider support 29' is provided with a series of welding flanges or feet to facilitate' attachment of the support 29 with the drawer including the bottom 13a, the side walls 23 and 24, and the angular front wall portion 251:. It will be appreciated these flanges on the support 29' may be welded tothe drawer 12.

The divider support 29" and the'rear wall ZG'have front and rear notched areas 30- and 31, respectively, and the shelfdividers 14 have front and rear ends 14a and 14b of the divider 1'4 comprises a hook and it is engaged in the rear notched area 31 only after the front end I s'rz ofthe dividerv has been engaged in one of the forward notched areas 3%. It will be appreciated the shelf dividers-14 maybe mounted with the drawer so the differentsizes of, packages may be secured between the dividers. 14, depending on the goods to be stored or mounted} on the drawers.

In accordance with still other features of the present invention, means has been provided for locking the drawer in a closed position and for locking the drawer in assembly with the cabinet when in an open position. To this end, the side frame members 16 are provided with hook-shaped tabs 16b adjacent the forward transverse frame member E7. The drawer 13 has a pair of slots b adjacent its lower end for receipt of the hookshaped tabs 16b. The frame tabs 1615 are secured within the drawer slots 2511 when the drawer 13 is in a closed position. In order to open the drawer, the drawer 13 is pushed rearwardly towards the back wall of the cabinet until the tabs 1612 are disengaged from the slots 25!). The drawer is then elevated slightly so that the front edge of the drawer may pass over the tab 1622, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. To lock the drawer 1'3 in assembly with the cabinet 10, rear edges of the track members 19 constitute stops 1% which are engageable with an upper edge 26a of the rear drawer wall 25.

The cabinet 10 and more particularly the drawers l3 may be operated in the manner previously described. In the unloading and loading of the parts stored on the drawers, drawer guards 34 are welded at 35 adjacent to the drawer runners 23a and 240. These drawer guards serve to prevent materials from becoming lodged in the tracks 21 to prevent the drawers from becoming jammed.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A sliding drawer type cabinet structure including an inclined drawer support frame mounted on the cabinet structure, the frame including inclined side frame members and transverse frame members joined in assembly therewith, inclined drawer track members mounted on said side frame members of each drawer supporting frame and defining drawer tracks, a lift type inclined drawer having runners disposed at its opposite sides and mounted in slidable relation on said drawer tracks with a forward end of said drawer disposed below a rearward end of said drawer, tab means carried on said frame, slot means carried on said drawer with said tab means engageable in said slot means in order to maintain said drawer in a closed position, the drawer being movable rearwardly on its tracks for disengaging said slot means from said tab means and with said drawer being manually tions having upper side frame surfaces and transverse frame portions joined in assembly therewith, inclined channeled drawer track members mounted on said side frame portions of each drawer Supporting frame and defining drawer tracks, and a lift type inclined drawer having its underside carried on said upper side frame surfaces and having upper side wall edges defining runners disposed at its opposite sides and mounted in slidable relation in track channels overlying said side frame surfaces and defined by said channeled drawer tracks with a forward end of said drawer disposed below a rearward end of said drawer.

3. A sliding drawer type cabinet structure including an inclined drawer support frame mounted on the cabinet structure, the frame including inclined side frame portions having upper side frame surfaces and transverse frame portions joined in assembly therewith, inclined channeled drawer track members mounted on said side frame portions of each drawer supporting frame and defining drawer tracks, and a lift type inclined drawer having its underside carried on said upper side frame surfaces and having upper side wall edges defining runners disposed at its opposite sides and mounted in slidable relation in track channels overlying said side frame surfaces and defined by said channeled drawer tracks with a forward end of said drawer disposed below a rearward end of said drawer, tab means carried on said frame on said upper side frame surfaces and being return bent in overlying relation to said side frame surface along a front edge of said frame, and slot means carried on said drawer along a vertical drawer wall with said tab means engeageable in said slot means in order to maintain said drawer in a closed position, the tab and slot means being together visible from the front of the cabinet structure in a tell-tale manner, the drawer being movable rearwardly on its tracks for disengaging said slot means from said tab means and with said drawer being liftable over said tab means and slidable forwardly of said tab means to move said inclined drawer to an open position.

4. A sliding drawer type cabinet structure including an inclined drawer support frame mounted on the cabinet structure, the frame including inclined side frame portions having upper side frame surfaces and transverse frame portions joined in assembly therewith, inclined channeled drawer track members mounted on said side frame portions of each drawer supporting frame and defining drawer tracks, and a lift type inclined drawer having its underside carried on said upper side frame surfaces and having upper side wall edges defining runners disposed at its opposite sides and mounted in slidable relation in track channels overlying said side frame surfaces and defined by said channeled drawer tracks with a forward end of said drawer disposed below a rearward end of said drawer, lock means between said drawer and said frame for maintaining said drawer in a closed pos t o and a stop on said drawer engageable with said drawer track members as said drawer is moved to an open pOSi' tion to maintain said inclined drawer in assembly with said frame when said drawer is in an open position.

5. A sliding drawer type cabinet structure including an inclined drawer support frame mounted on the cabinet structure, the frame including inclined side frame portions having upper side frame surfaces and transverse frame portions joined in assembly therewith, inclined channeled drawer track members mounted on said side frame poltions of each drawer supporting frame and defining drawer tracks, and a lift type inclined drawer having its underside carried on said upper side frame surfaces and having upper side wall edges defining runners disposed at its opposite sides and mounted in slidable relation in track channels overlying said side frame surfaces and defined by said channeled drawer tracks with a forward end of said drawer disposed below a rearward end of said drawer, guides secured to said drawer and extending along the length of the upper side wall edges of the drawer to prevent stored articles in the drawer from becoming lodged in the track channels.

6. In a sliding drawer type cabinet structure including four corner post angles and an inclined drawer supporting frame mounted on the angles, the frame including inclined side frame angles and transverse frame angles joined in assembly therewith, inclined drawer track angles mounted on said side frame angles of each drawer supporting frame defining drawer tracks, the drawer track angles having hooked ends defining the tracks which tracks overlie the side frame angles, a lift type inclined drawer having side walls with upper side wall edges of the side walls defining runners disposed at its opposite sides and mounted in slidable relation in said drawer tracks with a forward end of said drawer disposed below a rearward end of said drawer.

7. In a sliding drawer type cabinet structure including four corner post angles and an inclined drawer supporting frame mounted on the angles, the frame including inclined side frame angles and transverse frame angles joined in assembly therewith, inclined drawer track angles mounted on said side frame angles of each drawer supporting frame defining drawer tracks, the drawer track angles having hooked ends defining the tracks which tracks overlie the side frame angles, a lift type inclined drawer having side walls with upper side wall edges of the side walls defining runners disposed at its opposite sides and mounted in slidable relation in said drawer tracks with a forward end of said drawer disposed below a rearward end of said drawer, tab means carried on said side frame angles along a forward edge of the frame of the cabinet structure, and slot means carried on said drawer above its bottom with said tab means engageable in said slot means in order to maintain said drawer in a closed position, the tab means being visible from the front of the cabinet structure in a tell-tale manner when the tab means are engaged in the slot means to maintain the drawer in a closed position, the drawer being movable rearwardly on its tracks for disengaging said slot means from said tab means and with said drawer being liftable over said tab means and slidable forwardly of said tab means to move said inclined drawer to an open position.

8. In a sliding drawer type cabinet structure including four corner post angles and a drawer support frame mounted on the angles, the frame including side frame angles and transverse frame angles joined in assembly therewith, drawer track angles mounted on said side frame angles of each drawer supporting frame defining drawer tracks, the drawer track angles having hooked ends defining the tracks which tracks overlie the side frame angles, a lift type drawer having side walls with upper side wall edges of the side walls defining runners disposed at its opposite sides and mounted in slidable relation in said drawer tracks, and means between the drawer and the frame securing the drawer in open or closed position with the hooked ends being carried on said upper sidewall edges 9. In a sliding drawer type cabinet structure including an inclined support structure mounted on the cabinet structure, an inclined drawer mounted on said frame, tab means carried along a forward edge of said frame and disposed in front of said drawer, and slot means in a front wall of said of said drawer in confronting relation to said tab means with said tab means engageable in said slot means in order to maintain said drawer in a closed position and with said tab means in said front wall being visible along the front of the drawer and along the front of the cabinet structure when engaged with said slot means in a tell-tale manner.

10. A sliding drawer type cabinet structure including an inclined drawer support frame mounted on the cabinet structure, the frame including inclined side frame members and transverse frame members joined in assembly therewith, inclined drawer track members mounted on said side frame members of each drawer supporting frame and defining drawer tracks, a lift type inclined drawer having runners disposed at its opposite sides and mounted in slidable relation on said drawer tracks with a forward end of said drawer disposed below a rearward end of said drawer, tab means carried along a forward edge of said frame and disposed in front of said drawer, and slot means disposed in a frontmost wall of said drawer in confronting relation to said tab means with said tab means engagcable in said slot means in said frontmost wall in order to maintain said drawer in a closed position and with said tab means being visible along the front of the drawer when engaged in said slot means in a tell-tale manner, the drawer being movable rearwardly on its tracks for disengaging said slot means in said front wall from said tab means and with said drawer being manually liftable over said tab means and slidable forwardly of said tab means on top of said tab means to move said inclined drawer to an open position.

11. A drawer having a bottom, front and rear walls and side walls integral with said bottom, the rear wall having a series of rear wall notched areas extending across the width of the drawer, an upright member secured to the bottom at one end and with said front wall at an opposite end, the upright member having transversely spaced notched areas confronting the notched areas on said rear wall, and drawer dividers each having one end engaged in one of said notched areas in said upright member and an opposite hooked end secured in said notched areas in said rear wall, said front wall having an upper front wall angled end defining a front wall channel, the upper end of said upright member being retainingly engaged in said front wall channel and with said upright member spaced from said front wall to provide space between said upright member and said front wall for receipt of one of said ends of each of said dividers, the hooked end of said drawer dividers ext nding vertically in a plane generally common to said drawer dividers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 321,783 Blades July 7, 1885 774,291 Thorpe Nov. 8, 1904 2,055,038 McKean et a1 Sept. 22, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 829,656 Germany Ian. 28, 1952 204,722 Austria Aug. 10, 1959 

1. A SLIDING DRAWER TYPE CABINET STRUCTURE INCLUDING AN INCLINED DRAWER SUPPORT FRAME MOUNTED ON THE CABINET STRUCTURE, THE FRAME INCLUDING INCLINED SIDE FRAME MEMBERS AND TRANSVERSE FRAME MEMBERS JOINED IN ASSEMBLY THEREWITH, INCLINED DRAWER TRACK MEMBERS MOUNTED ON SAID SIDE FRAME MEMBERS OF EACH DRAWER SUPPORTING FRAME AND DEFINING DRAWER TRACKS, A LIFT TYPE INCLINED DRAWER HAVING RUNNERS DISPOSED AT ITS OPPOSITE SIDES AND MOUNTED IN SLIDABLE RELATION ON SAID DRAWER TRACKS WITH A FORWARD END OF SAID DRAWER DISPOSED BELOW A REARWARD END OF SAID DRAWER, TAB MEANS CARRIED ON SAID FRAME, SLOT MEANS CARRIED ON SAID DRAWER WITH SAID TAB MEANS ENGAGEABLE IN SAID SLOT MEANS IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN SAID DRAWER IN A CLOSED POSITION, THE DRAWER BEING MOVEABLE REARWARDLY ON ITS TRACKS FOR DISENGAGING SAID SLOT MEANS FROM SAID TAB MEANS AND WITH SAID DRAWER BEING MANUALLY LIFTABLE OVER SAID TAB MEANS AND SLIDABLE FORWARDLY OF SAID TAB MEANS TO MOVE SAID INCLINED DRAWER TO AN OPEN POSITION, AND A STOP ON AT LEAST ONE OF SAID RUNNERS OF SAID DRAWER ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID DRAWER TRACK MEMBER AS SAID DRAWER IS MOVED TO AN OPEN POSITION TO MAINTAIN SAID INCLINED DRAWER IN ASSEMBLY WITH SAID FRAME WHEN SAID DRAWER IS IN ITS OPEN POSITION. 